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Claudette Colbert

Film Actress / Stage Actress / Television Actress | * 09/13/1903 († 92, 07/30/1996) | Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (France)
Émilie Chauchoin (French pronunciation: [ʃoʃwɛ̃]; September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996), professionally known as Claudette Colbert ( kohl-BAIR, French: [kɔlbɛʁ]), was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially contracted to Paramount Pictures, Colbert became one of the few major actresses of the period who worked freelance, independent of the studio system. With her Mid-Atlantic accent, witty dialogues, aristocratic demeanor, and flair for light comedy and emotional drama, Colbert's versatility led to her becoming one of the most popular stars of the 1930s and 1940s. In all, Colbert starred in more than 60 movies. Among her frequent co-stars were Fred MacMurray, in seven films (1935–1949), and Fredric March, in four films (1930–1933). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career. Colbert's other notable films include Cleopatra (1934), ()
Photo of Claudette Colbert

Claudette Colbert was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France on September 13, 1903 and was brought to the United States as a child three years later. Born Emilie 'Lily' Claudette Chauchoin, she went to high school in New York. She was studying at the Art Students League when, in 1923, she took the name Claudette Colbert for her first Broadway role in "The Wild Westcotts". Her most noteworthy stage vehicle was the "The Barker" in 1927. Her first film was a silent For the Love of Mike (1927), directed by Frank Capra. Made on a shoestring, the movie was a flop, and she vowed that it would be her last film role: "I only left Broadway when the crash came. The Depression killed the theater, and the pictures were manna from heaven". She had her first film success the next year, however, in The Lady Lies (1929).Her early notable films were all box-office hits and included Cleopatra (1934), in which she played the title role enticingly. She had her greatest triumph playing a runaway heiress, with enormous charm, opposite Clark Gable in Capra's comedy It Happened One Night (1934), for which she won the Academy Award as Best Actress. By 1938 her keen ability in business made her the highest paid star in Hollywood. By 1950, though, her star had begun to wane. She returned to the stage in 1956 when she replaced Margaret Sullavan during the spring and summer in the comedy "Janus". Appearances in other Broadway productions followed, including "The Marriage-Go-Round". Besides the stage, she did TV specials and had a supporting role in a notable TV movie, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987), for which she received a Golden Globe award. In 1989 she was presented with a Life Achievement award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.She married actor Norman Foster in 1928, although they never lived together and were divorced after seven years. She married surgeon Dr. Joel Pressman soon after and remained married until his death in 1968. In latter years she divided her time between an apartment in New York and a 200-year-old plantation house in Speightstown, Barbados, where she entertained such guests as Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan. She remained on Barbados Island after her stroke. On July 30, 1996, Claudette died in Speightstown, Barbados. She was 92.

Most frequent genres for this person: Drama | Comedies | Romance / Love

Known for these Movies & Shows

Awards & Nominations for Claudette Colbert

Donostia Award Academy Award for Best Actress Kennedy Center Honors Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame 3x Academy Award for Best Actress Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
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Movies with Claudette Colbert as Actress(76)

as Self (archive footage)2003 Complicated Women
as Self (archive footage)1997 The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
as (archive footage)1994 That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)1965 The Love Goddesses
as Ellen McLean1961 Parrish
as Ruth Condomine1956 Blithe Spirit
as Prudence Webb1955 Texas Lady
as Elizabeth Whitefield (segment "Elisabeth")1954 Daughters of Destiny
as Madame de Montespan1954 Royal Affairs in Versailles
as Liz Frazer1952 The Planter's Wife
as Miriam Halsworth1951 Let's Make It Legal
as Sister Mary Bonaventure1951 Thunder on the Hill
as Agnes Newton Keith1950 Three Came Home
as Ellen Ewing1950 The Secret Fury
as Nora Shelley1949 Bride for Sale
as Alison Courtland1948 Sleep, My Love
as Katie Armstrong Jordan1948 Family Honeymoon
as Betty MacDonald1947 The Egg and I
as Kit Madden1946 Without Reservations
as Elizabeth Hamilton1946 Tomorrow Is Forever
as Lee Addams1946 The Secret Heart
as Mary Price1945 Guest Wife
as Peggy Martin1944 Practically Yours
as Mrs. Anne Hilton1944 Since You Went Away
as Lt. Janet 'Davy' Davidson1943 So Proudly We Hail
as Katherine Grant1943 No Time for Love
as Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers1942 The Palm Beach Story
as Lydia Kenyon1941 Skylark
as Nora Trinell1941 Remember the Day
as Betsy Bartlett1940 Boom Town
as Augusta Nash1940 Arise, My Love
as Self (archive footage)1940 Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
as Eve Peabody1939 Midnight
as Edwina Corday1939 It's a Wonderful World
as Lana (Magdelana)1939 Drums Along the Mohawk
as Zaza1938 Zaza
as Nicole De Loiselle1938 Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
as Tatiana (archive footage) (uncredited)1938 Breakdowns of 1938
as herself1938 Hollywood Goes to Town
as Barbara Clarke1937 Maid of Salem
as Kay Denham1937 I Met Him in Paris
as Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna Romanov1937 Tovarich
as Cigarette1936 Under Two Flags
as Jeannette Desmereau1935 The Bride Comes Home
as Julia Scott1935 She Married Her Boss
as Marilyn David1935 The Gilded Lily
as Dr. Jane Everest1935 Private Worlds
as Judy Jones1934 Four Frightened People
as Cleopatra1934 Cleopatra
as Ellie Andrews1934 It Happened One Night
as Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman1934 Imitation of Life
as Elizabeth Rimplegar1933 Three-Cornered Moon
as Julie Kirk1933 I Cover the Waterfront
as Princess Nadya1933 Tonight Is Ours
as Sally Trent, aka Mimi Benton1933 Torch Singer
as Margaret Hughes1932 The Wiser Sex
as Empress Poppaea1932 The Sign of the Cross
as Helen Steele1932 The Misleading Lady
as Felicia Hammond1932 The Phantom President
as Sylvia Suffolk1932 The Man from Yesterday
as Herself (uncredited)1932 Make Me a Star
as Julia Traynor1931 Honor Among Lovers
as (archive footage)1931 The House That Shadows Built
as Helen Blake1931 Secrets of a Secretary
as Sally Clark1931 His Woman
as Ann Vaughn1930 Young Man of Manhattan
as Barbara Billings1930 The Big Pond
as Lydia Thorne1930 Manslaughter
as Joyce Roamer1929 The Lady Lies
as Jean Oliver1929 The Hole in the Wall

TV Shows/Series with Claudette Colbert as Actress(19)

as Alice Grenville1987 The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
as Edith Miller1957 Suspicion
as Self - Guest1956 The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Party Host1956 The Steve Allen Show
as Lucy Bradford1956 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1954 Climax!
as Dr. Jane Everest1954 Climax!
as Sister Cecilia1954 Climax!
as Edith Miller1953 GE Theater
as Self - Guest Host1953 Letter to Loretta
as herself1950 The Jack Benny Program
as Self - Mystery Guest1950 What's My Line?
as Self (archive footage)1948 The Ed Sullivan Show

Full Name: Claudette Colbert
Born: Sunday, 09/13 1903 (September) in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (France)
Died: Tuesday, 07/30 1996 (July) in Speightstown (aged: 92)
Zodiac sign: Virgo (Chinese zodiac sign: Rabbit)
Languages: French (FR), American English
Educated at: Art Students League of New York, Washington Irving High School
Spouses (current/former): Norman Foster
Other names for Claudette Colbert (nicknames, foreign languages etc.):
"Emilie Claudette Chauchoin"
"Клодетт Кольбер"
"Émilie Chauchoin"
Claudette Colbert frequently works together with these people:
Loretta Young (117x, Actress)
John Newland (25x, Crew)
Eddie Albert (19x, Actor)
Charlton Heston (18x, Actor)
Vaughn Taylor (18x, Actor)
Everett Sloane (16x, Actor)
Travis Banton (15x, Crew)
Ricardo Montalban (14x, Actor)
Harry Townes (14x, Actor)
Lee Marvin (13x, Actor)
Hans Dreier (13x, Crew)
John Ericson (13x, Actor)
WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:11970, Added: 05/06/2018, Last updated: 03/05/2024